The Washington critic., 1887-02-28
TOPICS OF THE DAY.

dignif1ed gentleman who would be
President II Cleveland should resign
makes terrapin stew with his own
hands, and after his own recipe, which,
Mr.. Blackburn asserts, would compel
one to answer aflirmatlvely the ques.
tion, 'Is life worth living ?" Mr..
Blackburn once said with great i'm.
pressiveness to gentleman, "No man
has lived who has not eaten some of
Mr.. Bayard's terrapin, and he stews 1t
himself" And you will hear Justice
Miller Of the Supreme Bench, who has
as acute palate for properly prepared
terrapin as he has brain for unraveling
legal cobwebs, assert that Mr.. Bayard,
when he makes terrapiu himself, leaves
nothing more to be done with II but to
eat and enjoy. The recipeis Mr.. Bay.
ards own. 1t Is his secret. But the
teriapin thus prepared with - own
hands 1t Is his delight to SEE -.s guests
enjoy.
Says Washington letter to the New
York Tribune. In the first days of the
war Mrs. Field, wife of Justice Field,
gave dinner party, and Secretary
Stanton was one of the guests. The
ladies at the table, one by one, began
to ask favors Of the head of the then
most powerful department of the Gov
ernment. Mr.. Stanton listened, but
made no reply, and encouraged none.
Finally he turned to the hostess and
said "Mrs. Field, have you nothing
to ask for2" She had not spoken, and
had not thought of anything she de.
sired at his hands. But she answered:
be for brave and deserving officer"
The next morning an orderly called at
Justice Fields house with this mes.
sage from the Secretary: "Will Mrs.
Field kindly name the officer to whom
she referred last EVENING" After search.
o Ing her memory, she thought Of q
young Lieutenant buried at o post
where neither glory nor danger was
within reach. . The orderly went back
with the note of thanks and the young
mans name. That Lieutenant came
out Of the war a Major General.
~
Unlike General Butler, says the New
York Sun, Conkling has great fond.
ness for costly and strikingly.celored
handkerchiefs. A soft bandanna is
good enough for Butler to cool his
brow with, and he has one or two that
will rival Judge Thurman's famous
bandannas. Conkling leans toward a
handkerchief with q rich cardinal
border, and be is no mean artist 10 the
arrangement of them SO that the tip
with It's bit of color shall appear to be
struggling to get out of his pocket.
Senator Beck is the handkerchief fiend
of the Senate. He carries them In oil
his coat pockets. and If the session Is
long and he has made speech, he re-
frets that he didn't bring three or four
ore up to the Capitol with him.
~
Senator Teller has two personal hob
bies, says the Tribune, which he al
ways rides when he comes to New
York. He takes great delight In fiue
porcelain and glassware and in books.
He is an early riser and almost any day
when In New York may be found
strolling up and down Broadway as
early as 8 o'clock, until he finds some
book or fancy pottery store into which
he will walk, and there he will spend
hours in looking at the various articles
presented for sale.
~
"Of late years the Treasury has been
presided over by comparatively old
men," writes Carpenter Of the Cleve.
land Leader. "Folger was sixty three
yeas old when he was appointed. Sher.
man was nearly sixty, and Boutwell,
and Chase were we'll up In years.
Manning was 1ifty.four, the gray had
begun to sprout In Gresham's beard
long before Arthur chose him, and Nc
Culloch is an old man. Our first Sec
retaries were younger. Hamilton or.
ganized the Treasury Department at
thirty-two. Oliver Wolcott, his sue
cess0r, was thirty-fve. and the first
seven secretaries were under fifty al
the time Of their appointment. Mer
grew faster In pioneer days. Gallaiin
was just forty when he became Jeffer.
sons Secretary of the Treasury, and
after serving fourteen years he was
about the age of Manning when first
appointed. Dexter, who preceded
Gallatin, was forty.three."
.~x
Says the Memphis Appeals CORE
spondent: 1t 1t commonly said that Mr.
SpOfford, the librarian of Congress
knows something about the contents Of
every volume in the library. This
means that he has slowed away in ,
moderate sized head 600, 900 volumes o.
various sizes and bindings. A menbe
of Congress facetiously said: II don
read books, / read Spofford. In tina
way, he added, he got the who'll
library at one glance. A figure o
speech, hut not as broad as 1t sounds.
a Member or q Senator wants quota
tion that cannot be found in any Of tn,
"Familiar Quotations, and is of yer,
obscure origin, he goes to Mr.. Spofford
If he wants the best authority on any
subject, or, indeed, If he wants TO learI
anything that may be found In any o
those thousands Of volumes, he goes Il
the same source. Members seldom
think of looking at the catalogues.
~
The following anecdote is quotei
from "Rccollections of Secretary Stan
ton," by clerk of the War Depart
ment, in the March Century: "Whel
Mr. Stanley of North Carolina, was ap
pointed Military Governor of his State
the Secretary of War caused to b.
filled out one of the blank forms uset
for notifying military nominees of thei
appointment to office by the President
and when he had signed 1t and causeC